Some iPhone users report high battery drain following iOS 14.6 update

A number of iPhone users are reporting issues with their battery life, with some noting severe battery drain when left off-charge overnight.

Generally, users see the power level drop by a few percentage points when leaving their iPhone off charge overnight. With the release of iOS 14.6, it seems more power is being consumed.

A number of posts made to the Apple Support Forums mention excessive battery drainage. Some users offer that the battery is seemingly draining at a faster rate versus previous iOS releases.

In one case posted on Monday, a user saw Siri consume 70% of an iPhone XS battery from a complete charge. Another had their iPhone 12 see its battery go down to 30% while it was being charged overnight, and a third claimed the update drained the battery faster than their Apple Smart Cover could recharge their iPhone 11 Pro.

It is unclear exactly what is causing the battery drain problem. One user on the forum blamed the Podcasts app for the battery drain. Another Reddit poster offered that it could be related to AirTags due to the timing, though that seems to be unlikely given the range of affected hardware and other users claiming it happened while set in airplane mode.

There is also some debate as to how many people are actually affected by the problem. AppleInsider regularly tracks social media trends as they pertain to Apple devices, and there isn't a statistically significant increase in complaints for iOS 14.6, versus any other recent version. In the case of the iPhone 12 Pro battery drain issue of December 2020, there was a much bigger support forum response my an order of magnitude than what has been observed so far.

Apple has yet to comment or acknowledge there is a battery problem stemming from the latest iOS release. Any fixes for it will likely appear in a future firmware update.

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